The Baseball Buffet for 10/29/2025

Issue #439

The goal with The Baseball Buffet series is to provide the best daily dose of relevant baseball info in a smart-brevity format (mostly short bullets, getting to the point, with quick analysis/insights.) Think of it like what baseball fans of a certain age would look forward to in their morning newspaper’s sports section each day!

⚾ Welcome! ⚾

The 217th day of the season featured game 4 of the 2025 World Series:

TOR 6, LAD 2 - The Dodgers struck first with a sacrifice fly from Kiké Hernández driving in Max Muncy in the bottom of the second. The Blue Jays came right back in the third, with a single by Nathan Lukes and then a 2-run HR by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. off LA starter Shohei Ohtani.

Shane Bieber did well (5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K), and Ohtani was solid through six innings, but then the Jays went on a hitting spree in the seventh and scored four runs. This started with Ohtani allowing a single to Daulton Varsho, and then a double to Ernie Clement. Anthony Banda relieved Ohtani, but allowed a single to Andrés Giménez which drove in Varsho, and a ground out by Ty France drove in Clement. Blake Treinen entered and immediately gave up a single to Bo Bichette which scored Giménez, and then Addison Barger singled to drive in Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Toronto’s Chris Bassitt, a starter being used out of the bullpen during the postseason, pitched two scoreless innings in relief in the 7th and 8th. Louis Varland came in for the ninth, and although he allowed a couple of baserunners and one run, he closed it out after that.

Today’s Trivia Question

Another World Series-themed question for today: which teams have won at least one World Series championship and never lost any? That is, they have a 1.000 winning percentage? (Hint: There are four such teams… two have won twice, and two have one only once each.)

Trivia answers are at the bottom of each newsletter.

On this day in baseball history…

Here is what stands out to me for this day in baseball history. Unless otherwise noted, the descriptions are from baseball-reference.com.

📅 On October 29…

• 1931: Lefty Grove wins the AL MVP Award after earning his second consecutive pitching triple crown. “Lefty Grove, winner of 31 games for the Philadelphia Athletics, is named American League MVP. Grove led the league in strikeouts for the seventh straight season and topped all pitchers in winning percentage, ERA and complete games.”

• 1969: Tom Seaver wins his first of three Cy Young Awards. “Tom Seaver, who won 25 games to help lead the Mets to one of the most unlikely World Championships in major league history, is voted the National League Cy Young Award winner.”

• 1975: The awards start to pile up for Boston rookie Fred Lynn. “Fred Lynn of the Boston Red Sox is the overwhelming choice as American League Rookie of the Year. Lynn, who helped the Red Sox to the AL championship, made the All-Star team, hit .331 with 21 home runs and 105 RBI, and led the league in runs (103), doubles (47), slugging percentage (.566) and OPS (.967). A Gold Glove winner as well, he will become the first rookie to win the Most Valuable Player Award later this off-season.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

R.A. Dickey

• First-round draft pick (9th overall) by the Rangers in 1996

• 15-year major league pitching career, spanning from 2001-2017, mostly with the Rangers, Blue Jays, and Mets

• Had minimal success and was up and down between the majors and minors until he learned the knuckleball. It took some time to develop his hard knuckler, but by 2010 with the Mets he was an effective starter posting a 2.84 ERA over 174.1 IP

• In 2012 he was an All-Star and took home the NL Cy Young Award after going 20-6 with a 2.73 ERA and an NL-leading 230 strikeouts. In May and June of that year he was particularly effective, going 9-0 in 11 starts with a 1.31 ERA.

• A good fielding pitcher, he won an AL Gold Glove Award in 2013

• He won 10+ games six times, but never again reached the level of success he had in 2012

• Overall he had a 120-118 record, 4.04 ERA, and a 103 ERA+

Jesse Barfield

• 12-year major league career, spanning from 1981-1992, for the Blue Jays and Yankees

• Had 20+ HR six times, including leading the AL with a career-high 40 HR in 1986, his won All-Star campaign

• A good defensive RF with a strong arm, he led the AL in RF assists six times, and won Gold Glove Awards in 1986 and 1987

• Overall had 241 HR, a .256/.335/.466 slash line, and a 117 OPS+

Jim Bibby

• 12-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1972-1984, with the Cardinals, Rangers, Indians, and Pirates

• Was a workhorse in 1974 for the Rangers, starting 41 games and going 19-19.

• Was traded to the Indians with two others during the 1975 season for Gaylord Perry

• Was 12-4 with a 2.81 ERA for the Pirates in 1979, and was an important contributor in the postseason, with a 2.08 ERA over three starts and 17.1 IP

• Was an All-Star in 1980 when he went 19-6 with a 3.32 ERA

• Overall had a 111-102 record, a 3.76 ERA, and a 99 ERA+

Pete Richert

• 13-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1962-1974, mostly with the Dodgers, Senators, and Orioles

• Two-time All-Star for Washington with a 15-12 record and 2.60 ERA in 1965 and a 14-14 record and 3.37 ERA in 1966

• Later became an effective reliever with a 2.20 ERA in 1969, a 1.98 ERA in 1970, and a 2.25 ERA in 1972

• Overall had a 80-73 record, 51 saves, a 3.19 ERA, and a 106 ERA+

Currently active players who were born on October 29 include MIA Maximo Acosta and LAA Shaun Anderson.

Today’s Matchup

Tonight we have game five of the 2025 World Series, which is now tied 2-2 with one game left in Los Angeles:

• TOR vs. LAD, 8:00pm ET - This will be a rematch of the pitching matchup from Game 1, with Toronto going with rookie Trey Yesavage (4.26 ERA, 27 K in 19 IP in the postseason) and Los Angeles countering with Blake Snell (2.42 ERA, 32 K in 26 IP in the postseason).

⚾ I hope you enjoy the game today!⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

The four teams that have had minimal World Series experience, but have not lost a series yet are:

• Toronto Blue Jays (2-0, 1992 and 1993… so far!)

• Florida Marlins (2-0, 1997 and 2003)

• Los Angeles Angels (1-0, 2002)

• Washington Nationals (1-0, 2019)

Amongst teams with more World Series experience, the highest winning percentage is… the Pittsburgh Pirates (5-2, .714… though they haven’t even been in a World Series since 1979).

Good Reads

Here I am providing one or more links to baseball articles I’ve enjoyed recently, whether by writers at MLB.com or elsewhere.

• 5 takeaways from Toronto's rebound in Game 4 and what it means for Game 5, by AJ Cassavell and Martín Gallegos at MLB, 10/29/2025

• WS Game Three: It’s Dodger Vu All Over Again, by Jeff Kallman at Here's the Pitch: the IBWAA Newsletter, 10/29/2025

• A look back at some unexpected World Series heroes, by Matt Kelly and Do-Hyoung Park at MLB, 10/28/2025

• Who's in, who's out? Looking at how the Yankees' offseason could go, by Bryan Hoch at MLB, 10/27/2025

• Top five starting pitchers in Athletics history, by Mark Kolier at Almost Cooperstown, 10/29/2025

See recent issues of The Baseball Buffet for more recent good reads!

Did you know? I wrote a 600+ page book with the same title as this newsletter/blog? Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports. It is available at Amazon and most other major booksellers.

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